Chapter 5: Familiar Surroundings
When he awoke, he found that he was in bed. It wasn't his room. He was familiar with what it was. It's was Melfina's room, and it just so happened she was asleep in a chair nearby, her head going back and forth every moment she thought of something new. He sat up at first, and found that his shoulder was bandaged. He was only wearing his pants, and he sighed and fell back into the warmth of the blankets. Melfina tossed, when she heard Jack hit the bed again. She opened her eyes and rubbed them each with her fists. She looked over at Jack, and it looked like he was still asleep, but he turned his head to face her, indicating he was now awake. "How bad am I?" he asked. "Not too bad, but you lost a bit of blood, and you probably cant feel your shoulder now can you?" she asked. "No." Jack said, thumping it a couple of times, with no feeling emanating from it. "Well you know me. This isn't the first time I've been shot." Jack said smiling. Melfina returned the smile, and stood up, then walking towards the bed. "We ah, got pretty worried when you passed out." Melfina said, sitting next to Jack. "Sorry to worry you. I think I'm tired of being the hero." Jack admitted. "I think once is enough for the day." Melfina said, stroking his hair. "Hey, when is the last time I got to wrap my arms around you?" Jack asked. "Two days ago." Melfina said laughing. "Well alright then." Jack said, pulling her by the arm into the bed and letting her fall on top of him. "Hey." Jack said. He kissed her, and then rolled her over, so that she lay down comfortably on the sheets. He laid down himself, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You know Jack," Melfina said smiling. "Yeah?" Jack asked. "I think you are one of the most romantic people I know." Melfina said, laughing once more. "Sadly I don't know who to thank for that." Jack said, not keeping a smile back. "Hm." Melfina said in a low tone. "What is it?" Jack asked. "Why me? Why did you choose me? I still don't know what makes me any different from anyone else you've met." Melfina said, rolling over, putting her head on her hands and her legs dangling over her. "I think I have told you a million times." Jack said, smiling and sighing at the same time. "Tell me again." Melfina asked, becoming more interested in the conversation. "Well, it's like." Jack began, but was cut off from the door opening suddenly. Quatre stood there, blinking at first, trying to assess the situation, and then came to his senses. "Ah, I'm sorry. Did I come at a bad time?" he asked, seeing Melfina and Jack both sprawled on the bed. "Oh no. What's happening?" Jack asked. "Well, we are happy to report that we managed to get the rest of the bullets out of his leg, but he will be out of commission for a couple of days. In the mean time, I think he should be fine." Quatre reported. He looked around, and nodded his head. "Well, I'm glad to here that. So how are things on the other end?" Jack asked. "The other end of what?" Quatre said in a very confused manner. "It's a metaphor. You know, how are things? What is going on in your life?" Jack said, explaining it to him elaborately. "Oh, well, alright I guess. It's been hectic, since you guys got caught, I think all Trowa did was pace back and forth until he recommended we should be waiting for you guys." Quatre told him, easing a smile. "Well I'm glad someone still likes us." Jack said, scratching the back of his head and sitting all the way up. Quatre was turning to leave, just as Jack called him back. "Hey Q, can I ask you a question?" Jack yelled. "Sure." Quatre responded. "Can I shake your hand?" Jack asked. Quatre didn't look at all serious. "Sure, I guess." Quatre said with intrigue. Jack stood up, and walked over to him. They were about the same height, so it looked like they were both the same age. Jack extended his hand, and Quatre took it. Jack patted his shoulder, and Quatre walked out awkwardly, smiling as he did. "I wonder why you wanted to do that?" Melfina asked. "That man and the rest of his team are great. You have to understand we would have been in trouble if it hadn't been for Heero. He got us out of there alive. You have to understand that you and I might be dead, and we would have never gotten those scientists out of there." Jack said, walking back and forth across the room, giving examples and explanations. "By the way, what happened to the science team? Did yo guys learn anything?" Jack asked. Melfina laid back, and put her hands behind her head. "They told us something very important, but I think they could explain it better than I could." Melfina implied. Jack put a shirt on, and changed back into his jeans. "So are you coming with me?" Jack asked Melfina. "Well where are you going?" she replied. "To ask some questions and see how we are doing exactly." Jack said. She groaned, and turned herself into the bed, and lifted the covers over her head, and stayed still. "I didn't get a very good nights rest. I think I'll sleep a little but longer." She said. Jack went to the side of the bed, leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you later." Jack reassured. "Hm." Melfina replied quietly. He stood back up, and walked out the door and didn't look back. He saw that most of the debris had been cleaned up, and heard a bunch of clanking coming from the engine room. He walked down the halls, which were not bent anymore, and were now looking as good as new. Boxes were stacked with objects that needed to be thrown away. He got closer to the door, and opened it up to see Gene and Jim working on the engines, while Trowa watched with his arms crossed. "This has got to go." Gene said, throwing an object out of the cluttered engine. "Where the hell did this come from? What is this, a metal waterbottle? How much did that cost, like $400?" Gene asked, not holding back from throwing things out. Jack laughed, and Trowa turned around to see who it was. "So uh, what are Tweedledee and Tweedledum doing?" Jack asked. "Well, by the looks of it they are breaking more then they are fixing." Trowa responded. "Aint that the truth." Jack smiled, and walked over to where Gene was tossing more items out. "Have you ever seen any of this stuff before?" Jack asked. "Not in my life." Gene said without emphasis. "Then ask Jim for help." Jack recommended. "Yeah I guess I could let him do it." Gene said, wiping his hands clean and getting down from the ladder. "Hey Jim! She's all yours man." Gene yelled. Jim stopped his welding, and lifted the visor up. He took it off and walked over to where Gene had left off, and started digging through the jungle of wires and parts. "You guys did a hell of a good job last night." Gene complimented. "Thanks. So what did we learn from the science team?" Jack asked. "Those guys? A lot. They said so much I lost them about halfway through the explanation." Gene said, turning his back to look at Jim, and then ahead of him. "Ok. I'll go see them in a minute. Where can I find Heero?" Jack asked. "He is in one of the spare room." Gene said, pointing down the hall. "Hey, we're gonna get the ship fixed up today. We'll lift the nose of it and get it repaired and everything. That Duo is pretty handy with mechanics." Gene said, strolling off. Jack followed the hall until he came across the room that had a piece of yellow tape on the door. This was supposed to indicate where they could find Heero in case they needed to. He let the door slide open, and saw Heero lying on the bed, his arm hanging off the side, and snoring loudly. Jack approached the nearby chair, and turned it to face Heero. He sat down, and looked around. Apparently they had cleaned and scoured the room for any signs of loose metal or debris. Heero turned his head, and blinked. He opened one eye, and then the other, and then the other. Afterwards he sat up and opened both of his eyes. Jack was sitting there staring at him, and it made Heero jump when he saw him. "Jesus. You're always sneaking up on me." Heero gasped. "Well I guess that's just what I do." Jack sighed. "So how is your leg?" "Fine, I guess." "You guess. So you're not exactly sure? Let me take a look at it." Jack requested. Heero tipped his right leg out of the bed, and Jack looked at how red the bandages were. "God. You must have had a little bit more lead than usual pumped into you." Jack examined. "At least they didn't have to chop my damn leg off." Heero laughed, pulling himself all the way into bed again. "So how are you feeling?" Heero asked. "Not too bad, not too good. Neutral, you could say. I'm just glad I can still walk and move around. It's not like I haven't been shot before." Jack said, standing up. "So where do we go from here?" Heero asked. "From here?" "Yeah." "I'm not sure. I'm gonna go see the science team, and see what they have for me." Jack said, pointing at the door. "Hey Jack." Heero called back. "Yeah." Jack asked. "By the sounds of what they said, there is some pretty weird shit going on." Heero said. Jack looked eager to see what everyone was so crazy about. He hopped it wouldn't end in the annihilation of them all. Jack observed the halls, which were now sparkling with a shine, and wondered when the ship would be getting out of here. The disturbance at the complex wouldn't go unnoticed, and he knew that soon they would be looking for whoever got inside and then out, with the only viable source of information. He wondered of course, who they would send and what would happen. He saw the doors in which the scientists were staying. He stood directly in front of it, and walked forward as the doors opened, and the five of them turned their heads. They were all sitting down in a circle with chairs, and other objects for them to sit on, piled around each other for them to sit on. At the sight of Jack, one of them stood, and walked over to him. "Very good job last night. Very good indeed. Where did you learn to do such things?" Jack paused, and then answered. "When you have lived with these people for as long as I have, then you get the knack of it." Jack said, grinning and yet feeling on edge. "I have never seen anyone take a shot and live." The other commented. "That I can explain." Jack interrupted him. "That suit had built in body armor. That shot could have killed me, ok?" Jack explained, and then let the others speak. "Well, very good to see that you are alive." Sergei joyfully said. "Uh, the others said you had something to say about the things that went on inside that place?" Jack mentioned. The scientists looked at each other, and nodded. "What goes on in there, will more then likely affect what goes on outside of there." One of them spoke up. "How so?" Jack asked, fidgeting. "They have developed something new. I am not happy to say that it is primarily our fault. This is a new weapon called the sonic cannon. The device has the ability to emit sound waves that can destroy anything. It was banned by the city council, so they took it into hiding. When a business that owned that building went bankrupt, they purchased it, and no one thought anything of it. The council has too much to worry about to bother with one more company, so no effort has been made to investigate." Sergei explained. There was silence for a moment, and then Jack raised the next question. "What does this have to do with Spacecraft being destroyed, Spacestation 'Harkin' exploding, and stolen technology?" The scientists all looked around the room, and one spoke up. "The council had very important people aboard those spacecraft, such as military officials, presidents of major funding corporations, and more. The station was a major defensive network, and if they found out about this, then they would destroy the operation for sure. The technological demand for the project got bigger and bigger. We needed wave dampeners, neural net electronics, and shock controllers, all which we could not build on our own. So they stole. And soon, it ended in madness at this new order in which the corporation was hoping to establish." Sergei wrapped up his summary of the recent events, and looked at Jack. "We left because it was purely chaos they were trying to create. Not order." Jack thought for a moment, and pieced it all together. "I suppose you have a reason to leave. I suppose that is why he had you all bundled up in that room." Jack wondered. "Exactly. But now, our freedom is preserved, thanks to you and your brave friends." The other said, standing and patting Jack on the back. Jack couldn't help but think of this newfound information, and figured it would lead to the cost of something, but he didn't know what.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by the door behind him opening. Gene stood there, looking dirty with grease and dust. "Hey, we're going to get the lift, I just thought I'd let you know." Gene said, looking around and nodding his head. "The lift? What the hell is that?" Jack asked. "The truck we're going to use to lift the ship up off the ground." Gene explained. "Oh. But how are you gonna do that? This ship must way several tons." Jack asked. "I don't know. Maybe we'll figure something out." Gene responded, then leaving Jack to deal with things on his own. Soon enough, Jack found himself doing things as he always did when there was nothing else to do. Sleep. He went back to sleep in his own room, tired enough from the fact that getting shot and barely making it out alive can be tiring. He dreamt that they were soaring, high above the clouds of the atmosphere of some distant planet. Then, panic rose, and explosions erupted. The ship was torn apart by fire and shrapnel, and Jack screamed as he gasped for air in space. He then woke up in a cold sweat, and looked around to see everything was fine. He wondered whether this was a premonition or a revolution, but whatever it was, it scared him to death. He heard distant shouting, and looked at this clock. It read that it was past noon, and he figured Gene had returned with the lift. He got up, gathered his thoughts, and walked outside. They had the bottom of the ship chained to a crude version of a forklift. "Ok, one, two, three!" Gene yelled. They put it under the ship, and lifted. Some of it went up, while it remained tilted on its side. "Ok, that's good. Hold it right there." Gene said, waving his hand down. When Jack approached, Gene looked to see who it was, and walked over to him. "So this is your bright idea?" Jack asked, pointing at the tilted ship and nearly laughing. "Sort of. We'll have to do every side individually, so it may take a month before we get it fully repaired. But I expect to be off this rock in two weeks or less." Gene smirked. "Sounds good to me. Hey listen, when you're finished, can we talk?" Jack asked. "Yeah sure. What about?" Gene looked a bit uneasy. "Ah, I'll tell you when you're finished." Jack said, looking at the hulking machine, and then behind him as he turned that direction and walked off. Four hours later, Gene had relieved the machine of its duties, and Trowa jumped out of the driver's seat, all of them heading towards the ship. The sides that they had been working on, looked better then ever. Jack checked it out before heading in, and thought that the ship would be ready to go very soon. All they had to do was fix the engine, clean the mess, and get the hell out before those people sent someone to kill the ones who had broken in, and stole their team of the greatest minds. After entering the ship, things began to quiet down. Heero had probably fallen asleep, Gene was playing cards with Jim while Chris watched, and Duo had crashed on the couch, and was now snoring very loud. Quatre was reading a book, and Trowa was curled up with a pillow on a nearby chair. Jack didn't know where Melfina was. Maybe she was in her room or something. He went looking for her, and couldn't find anything. "Hey Gene, have you seen Melfina anywhere?" Jack asked. "Last I saw she was in her room." Gene said, laying a few cards down and drawing some more. "I can't find her anywhere." Jack proclaimed. Gene turned in his chair. "Are you sure she isn't outside?" Gene asked. "I don't think she would be." Jack explained. Gene shrugged. "She has to be around here somewhere. She couldn't have just disappeared." Gene said. Jack thought for a second, and then took off down the hall. Chris looked up, and followed him. "Where are you going?" Chris yelled. "Come on. I have a bad feeling about this." Jack said. He turned the corner, and ran towards Heero's room. "Are you sure he's sleeping?" Jack asked. "Yeah." Chris acknowledged. Jack walked to the door of the room, and when it slid open, he saw exactly what he thought he would see. Things were strewn everywhere, the bed sheets were wrinkled in a mass of cloth, and it was a very awkward sight. "Oh man. What happened?" Chris asked. The minute he saw everything, Jack was out of there. "Hey where ya goin?" Chris yelled. "To go get them." Jack replied. It was a simple answer, and Chris wasted no time in following him. "Wait up!" Chris yelled. Jack didn't look back. He kept running frantically, as if he was trying to catch up with someone. He dashed out of the ship through the hole that was previously made. "Where the hell are you going at this time of the night!?" Chris yelled. Jack didn't answer. He took off across the dirt fields that placed them between the city of monotony. Chris jumped out and took off after Jack. Sooner or later he caught up with him. "Where are we going?" Chris panted while still running. "To that building." Jack said, slowing down to a semi-walking pace. "Why are you going back? Why would you want to?" Chris asked. "Look at the evidence Chris. Melfina and Heero disappear. Who went along with me on that mission? Those two. They know too much, so obviously they sent someone out here to catch us. They know everything about that operation obviously. I need to find a way to get them out. Are you going to help me or what?" Jack asked. Chris had to make a decision. He thought for a moment, and then looked up at Jack. "I suppose I could. The least you could have done was brought a gun." Chris said with a little edginess. Jack smiled, and they walked towards the city. It was dark when they reached the city. Obviously it was the perfect time to sneak about and get inside. "How did you get in last time?" Chris asked. "The back. But I'm not taking the back." Jack said. He hopped over the fence, and saw that the same trucks were parked outside just like before. "Chris, you see that gas can over there? The one gallon? Bring it to me." Jack said. He jumped into the back, and as he had thought, these were munitions trucks. Not much, but there were pistols, flares, and semi-autos. But there was no ammo for any of them. "Hey Jack?! This is what you wanted right?" Chris asked, dumping the gas can in plain view behind him. "Yeah. I was kind of hoping we could find something to ignite it with." Jack explained. Chris looked around, but didn't see anything that could emit fire. "Ok, Chris, scratch that. Follow me." Jack smiled sinisterly. He hopped out of the back and walked up to the driver's side of the truck. The keys were still in the ignition slot. "Yes." Jack said with a grin, opening the door quickly and jumping in. "Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute." Chris stated, backing up. "You aren't gonna." Chris had a look of despair spread all over his face, and Jack seemed to be enjoying by just thinking about it. "You are right on the money." Jack said with an enthusiastic tone and broad smile. Jack looked for the keys of the truck, and found them in the dashboard. He took them out and placed them into the ignition. He turned them with force, and the truck sputtered and growled, and soon came to life. Chris stepped back and was about four or five meters when he gave the ok, and Jack let a rip with the accelerator, smashing it to the floor as hard as he could, then engine letting a roar as the truck lurched forward. He turned the wheel to the right, and sped strait for the wall of the building. He held steadfast to the wheel, and concentrated on the right moment to bail out of the truck. He was mere feet from the wall, when he jumped out of the truck as quickly as he could. He hit the pavement just as hard as the truck hit the hall. The inertia was the main cause of why hitting the ground hurt so badly. He was almost certain his arm was broken, but it was most likely just bruised badly. The truck went on its dead on course for the wall, and when it impacted it with such force, it exploded in a fireball, and the wall had a hole about the size of a manhole indented in its hard lair. The rest was cracked or was crumbing, and the reinforced concrete was baring its steel wires. Jack sat up with a daze, and rubbed his head while seeing two of everything. Chris ran up to him and crouched down, checking him over, making sure he wasn't hurt too seriously. "Jack, I swear, that was a crazy-ass stunt." Chris said, hauling him up off of the concrete ground, and back onto his feet. "Hey, what's the damage?" Jack asked dizzily. "Bad enough." Chris commented while looking at the hole, and laughing to himself at the sight of a totaled vehicle and a large, cracked circle showing itself on the wall of the building. "Come on." Chris commanded, and they set out through the hole and inside the familiar surroundings of the mysterious complex.
When he awoke, he found that he was in bed. It wasn't his room. He was familiar with what it was. It's was Melfina's room, and it just so happened she was asleep in a chair nearby, her head going back and forth every moment she thought of something new. He sat up at first, and found that his shoulder was bandaged. He was only wearing his pants, and he sighed and fell back into the warmth of the blankets. Melfina tossed, when she heard Jack hit the bed again. She opened her eyes and rubbed them each with her fists. She looked over at Jack, and it looked like he was still asleep, but he turned his head to face her, indicating he was now awake. "How bad am I?" he asked. "Not too bad, but you lost a bit of blood, and you probably cant feel your shoulder now can you?" she asked. "No." Jack said, thumping it a couple of times, with no feeling emanating from it. "Well you know me. This isn't the first time I've been shot." Jack said smiling. Melfina returned the smile, and stood up, then walking towards the bed. "We ah, got pretty worried when you passed out." Melfina said, sitting next to Jack. "Sorry to worry you. I think I'm tired of being the hero." Jack admitted. "I think once is enough for the day." Melfina said, stroking his hair. "Hey, when is the last time I got to wrap my arms around you?" Jack asked. "Two days ago." Melfina said laughing. "Well alright then." Jack said, pulling her by the arm into the bed and letting her fall on top of him. "Hey." Jack said. He kissed her, and then rolled her over, so that she lay down comfortably on the sheets. He laid down himself, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You know Jack," Melfina said smiling. "Yeah?" Jack asked. "I think you are one of the most romantic people I know." Melfina said, laughing once more. "Sadly I don't know who to thank for that." Jack said, not keeping a smile back. "Hm." Melfina said in a low tone. "What is it?" Jack asked. "Why me? Why did you choose me? I still don't know what makes me any different from anyone else you've met." Melfina said, rolling over, putting her head on her hands and her legs dangling over her. "I think I have told you a million times." Jack said, smiling and sighing at the same time. "Tell me again." Melfina asked, becoming more interested in the conversation. "Well, it's like." Jack began, but was cut off from the door opening suddenly. Quatre stood there, blinking at first, trying to assess the situation, and then came to his senses. "Ah, I'm sorry. Did I come at a bad time?" he asked, seeing Melfina and Jack both sprawled on the bed. "Oh no. What's happening?" Jack asked. "Well, we are happy to report that we managed to get the rest of the bullets out of his leg, but he will be out of commission for a couple of days. In the mean time, I think he should be fine." Quatre reported. He looked around, and nodded his head. "Well, I'm glad to here that. So how are things on the other end?" Jack asked. "The other end of what?" Quatre said in a very confused manner. "It's a metaphor. You know, how are things? What is going on in your life?" Jack said, explaining it to him elaborately. "Oh, well, alright I guess. It's been hectic, since you guys got caught, I think all Trowa did was pace back and forth until he recommended we should be waiting for you guys." Quatre told him, easing a smile. "Well I'm glad someone still likes us." Jack said, scratching the back of his head and sitting all the way up. Quatre was turning to leave, just as Jack called him back. "Hey Q, can I ask you a question?" Jack yelled. "Sure." Quatre responded. "Can I shake your hand?" Jack asked. Quatre didn't look at all serious. "Sure, I guess." Quatre said with intrigue. Jack stood up, and walked over to him. They were about the same height, so it looked like they were both the same age. Jack extended his hand, and Quatre took it. Jack patted his shoulder, and Quatre walked out awkwardly, smiling as he did. "I wonder why you wanted to do that?" Melfina asked. "That man and the rest of his team are great. You have to understand we would have been in trouble if it hadn't been for Heero. He got us out of there alive. You have to understand that you and I might be dead, and we would have never gotten those scientists out of there." Jack said, walking back and forth across the room, giving examples and explanations. "By the way, what happened to the science team? Did yo guys learn anything?" Jack asked. Melfina laid back, and put her hands behind her head. "They told us something very important, but I think they could explain it better than I could." Melfina implied. Jack put a shirt on, and changed back into his jeans. "So are you coming with me?" Jack asked Melfina. "Well where are you going?" she replied. "To ask some questions and see how we are doing exactly." Jack said. She groaned, and turned herself into the bed, and lifted the covers over her head, and stayed still. "I didn't get a very good nights rest. I think I'll sleep a little but longer." She said. Jack went to the side of the bed, leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you later." Jack reassured. "Hm." Melfina replied quietly. He stood back up, and walked out the door and didn't look back. He saw that most of the debris had been cleaned up, and heard a bunch of clanking coming from the engine room. He walked down the halls, which were not bent anymore, and were now looking as good as new. Boxes were stacked with objects that needed to be thrown away. He got closer to the door, and opened it up to see Gene and Jim working on the engines, while Trowa watched with his arms crossed. "This has got to go." Gene said, throwing an object out of the cluttered engine. "Where the hell did this come from? What is this, a metal waterbottle? How much did that cost, like $400?" Gene asked, not holding back from throwing things out. Jack laughed, and Trowa turned around to see who it was. "So uh, what are Tweedledee and Tweedledum doing?" Jack asked. "Well, by the looks of it they are breaking more then they are fixing." Trowa responded. "Aint that the truth." Jack smiled, and walked over to where Gene was tossing more items out. "Have you ever seen any of this stuff before?" Jack asked. "Not in my life." Gene said without emphasis. "Then ask Jim for help." Jack recommended. "Yeah I guess I could let him do it." Gene said, wiping his hands clean and getting down from the ladder. "Hey Jim! She's all yours man." Gene yelled. Jim stopped his welding, and lifted the visor up. He took it off and walked over to where Gene had left off, and started digging through the jungle of wires and parts. "You guys did a hell of a good job last night." Gene complimented. "Thanks. So what did we learn from the science team?" Jack asked. "Those guys? A lot. They said so much I lost them about halfway through the explanation." Gene said, turning his back to look at Jim, and then ahead of him. "Ok. I'll go see them in a minute. Where can I find Heero?" Jack asked. "He is in one of the spare room." Gene said, pointing down the hall. "Hey, we're gonna get the ship fixed up today. We'll lift the nose of it and get it repaired and everything. That Duo is pretty handy with mechanics." Gene said, strolling off. Jack followed the hall until he came across the room that had a piece of yellow tape on the door. This was supposed to indicate where they could find Heero in case they needed to. He let the door slide open, and saw Heero lying on the bed, his arm hanging off the side, and snoring loudly. Jack approached the nearby chair, and turned it to face Heero. He sat down, and looked around. Apparently they had cleaned and scoured the room for any signs of loose metal or debris. Heero turned his head, and blinked. He opened one eye, and then the other, and then the other. Afterwards he sat up and opened both of his eyes. Jack was sitting there staring at him, and it made Heero jump when he saw him. "Jesus. You're always sneaking up on me." Heero gasped. "Well I guess that's just what I do." Jack sighed. "So how is your leg?" "Fine, I guess." "You guess. So you're not exactly sure? Let me take a look at it." Jack requested. Heero tipped his right leg out of the bed, and Jack looked at how red the bandages were. "God. You must have had a little bit more lead than usual pumped into you." Jack examined. "At least they didn't have to chop my damn leg off." Heero laughed, pulling himself all the way into bed again. "So how are you feeling?" Heero asked. "Not too bad, not too good. Neutral, you could say. I'm just glad I can still walk and move around. It's not like I haven't been shot before." Jack said, standing up. "So where do we go from here?" Heero asked. "From here?" "Yeah." "I'm not sure. I'm gonna go see the science team, and see what they have for me." Jack said, pointing at the door. "Hey Jack." Heero called back. "Yeah." Jack asked. "By the sounds of what they said, there is some pretty weird shit going on." Heero said. Jack looked eager to see what everyone was so crazy about. He hopped it wouldn't end in the annihilation of them all. Jack observed the halls, which were now sparkling with a shine, and wondered when the ship would be getting out of here. The disturbance at the complex wouldn't go unnoticed, and he knew that soon they would be looking for whoever got inside and then out, with the only viable source of information. He wondered of course, who they would send and what would happen. He saw the doors in which the scientists were staying. He stood directly in front of it, and walked forward as the doors opened, and the five of them turned their heads. They were all sitting down in a circle with chairs, and other objects for them to sit on, piled around each other for them to sit on. At the sight of Jack, one of them stood, and walked over to him. "Very good job last night. Very good indeed. Where did you learn to do such things?" Jack paused, and then answered. "When you have lived with these people for as long as I have, then you get the knack of it." Jack said, grinning and yet feeling on edge. "I have never seen anyone take a shot and live." The other commented. "That I can explain." Jack interrupted him. "That suit had built in body armor. That shot could have killed me, ok?" Jack explained, and then let the others speak. "Well, very good to see that you are alive." Sergei joyfully said. "Uh, the others said you had something to say about the things that went on inside that place?" Jack mentioned. The scientists looked at each other, and nodded. "What goes on in there, will more then likely affect what goes on outside of there." One of them spoke up. "How so?" Jack asked, fidgeting. "They have developed something new. I am not happy to say that it is primarily our fault. This is a new weapon called the sonic cannon. The device has the ability to emit sound waves that can destroy anything. It was banned by the city council, so they took it into hiding. When a business that owned that building went bankrupt, they purchased it, and no one thought anything of it. The council has too much to worry about to bother with one more company, so no effort has been made to investigate." Sergei explained. There was silence for a moment, and then Jack raised the next question. "What does this have to do with Spacecraft being destroyed, Spacestation 'Harkin' exploding, and stolen technology?" The scientists all looked around the room, and one spoke up. "The council had very important people aboard those spacecraft, such as military officials, presidents of major funding corporations, and more. The station was a major defensive network, and if they found out about this, then they would destroy the operation for sure. The technological demand for the project got bigger and bigger. We needed wave dampeners, neural net electronics, and shock controllers, all which we could not build on our own. So they stole. And soon, it ended in madness at this new order in which the corporation was hoping to establish." Sergei wrapped up his summary of the recent events, and looked at Jack. "We left because it was purely chaos they were trying to create. Not order." Jack thought for a moment, and pieced it all together. "I suppose you have a reason to leave. I suppose that is why he had you all bundled up in that room." Jack wondered. "Exactly. But now, our freedom is preserved, thanks to you and your brave friends." The other said, standing and patting Jack on the back. Jack couldn't help but think of this newfound information, and figured it would lead to the cost of something, but he didn't know what.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by the door behind him opening. Gene stood there, looking dirty with grease and dust. "Hey, we're going to get the lift, I just thought I'd let you know." Gene said, looking around and nodding his head. "The lift? What the hell is that?" Jack asked. "The truck we're going to use to lift the ship up off the ground." Gene explained. "Oh. But how are you gonna do that? This ship must way several tons." Jack asked. "I don't know. Maybe we'll figure something out." Gene responded, then leaving Jack to deal with things on his own. Soon enough, Jack found himself doing things as he always did when there was nothing else to do. Sleep. He went back to sleep in his own room, tired enough from the fact that getting shot and barely making it out alive can be tiring. He dreamt that they were soaring, high above the clouds of the atmosphere of some distant planet. Then, panic rose, and explosions erupted. The ship was torn apart by fire and shrapnel, and Jack screamed as he gasped for air in space. He then woke up in a cold sweat, and looked around to see everything was fine. He wondered whether this was a premonition or a revolution, but whatever it was, it scared him to death. He heard distant shouting, and looked at this clock. It read that it was past noon, and he figured Gene had returned with the lift. He got up, gathered his thoughts, and walked outside. They had the bottom of the ship chained to a crude version of a forklift. "Ok, one, two, three!" Gene yelled. They put it under the ship, and lifted. Some of it went up, while it remained tilted on its side. "Ok, that's good. Hold it right there." Gene said, waving his hand down. When Jack approached, Gene looked to see who it was, and walked over to him. "So this is your bright idea?" Jack asked, pointing at the tilted ship and nearly laughing. "Sort of. We'll have to do every side individually, so it may take a month before we get it fully repaired. But I expect to be off this rock in two weeks or less." Gene smirked. "Sounds good to me. Hey listen, when you're finished, can we talk?" Jack asked. "Yeah sure. What about?" Gene looked a bit uneasy. "Ah, I'll tell you when you're finished." Jack said, looking at the hulking machine, and then behind him as he turned that direction and walked off. Four hours later, Gene had relieved the machine of its duties, and Trowa jumped out of the driver's seat, all of them heading towards the ship. The sides that they had been working on, looked better then ever. Jack checked it out before heading in, and thought that the ship would be ready to go very soon. All they had to do was fix the engine, clean the mess, and get the hell out before those people sent someone to kill the ones who had broken in, and stole their team of the greatest minds. After entering the ship, things began to quiet down. Heero had probably fallen asleep, Gene was playing cards with Jim while Chris watched, and Duo had crashed on the couch, and was now snoring very loud. Quatre was reading a book, and Trowa was curled up with a pillow on a nearby chair. Jack didn't know where Melfina was. Maybe she was in her room or something. He went looking for her, and couldn't find anything. "Hey Gene, have you seen Melfina anywhere?" Jack asked. "Last I saw she was in her room." Gene said, laying a few cards down and drawing some more. "I can't find her anywhere." Jack proclaimed. Gene turned in his chair. "Are you sure she isn't outside?" Gene asked. "I don't think she would be." Jack explained. Gene shrugged. "She has to be around here somewhere. She couldn't have just disappeared." Gene said. Jack thought for a second, and then took off down the hall. Chris looked up, and followed him. "Where are you going?" Chris yelled. "Come on. I have a bad feeling about this." Jack said. He turned the corner, and ran towards Heero's room. "Are you sure he's sleeping?" Jack asked. "Yeah." Chris acknowledged. Jack walked to the door of the room, and when it slid open, he saw exactly what he thought he would see. Things were strewn everywhere, the bed sheets were wrinkled in a mass of cloth, and it was a very awkward sight. "Oh man. What happened?" Chris asked. The minute he saw everything, Jack was out of there. "Hey where ya goin?" Chris yelled. "To go get them." Jack replied. It was a simple answer, and Chris wasted no time in following him. "Wait up!" Chris yelled. Jack didn't look back. He kept running frantically, as if he was trying to catch up with someone. He dashed out of the ship through the hole that was previously made. "Where the hell are you going at this time of the night!?" Chris yelled. Jack didn't answer. He took off across the dirt fields that placed them between the city of monotony. Chris jumped out and took off after Jack. Sooner or later he caught up with him. "Where are we going?" Chris panted while still running. "To that building." Jack said, slowing down to a semi-walking pace. "Why are you going back? Why would you want to?" Chris asked. "Look at the evidence Chris. Melfina and Heero disappear. Who went along with me on that mission? Those two. They know too much, so obviously they sent someone out here to catch us. They know everything about that operation obviously. I need to find a way to get them out. Are you going to help me or what?" Jack asked. Chris had to make a decision. He thought for a moment, and then looked up at Jack. "I suppose I could. The least you could have done was brought a gun." Chris said with a little edginess. Jack smiled, and they walked towards the city. It was dark when they reached the city. Obviously it was the perfect time to sneak about and get inside. "How did you get in last time?" Chris asked. "The back. But I'm not taking the back." Jack said. He hopped over the fence, and saw that the same trucks were parked outside just like before. "Chris, you see that gas can over there? The one gallon? Bring it to me." Jack said. He jumped into the back, and as he had thought, these were munitions trucks. Not much, but there were pistols, flares, and semi-autos. But there was no ammo for any of them. "Hey Jack?! This is what you wanted right?" Chris asked, dumping the gas can in plain view behind him. "Yeah. I was kind of hoping we could find something to ignite it with." Jack explained. Chris looked around, but didn't see anything that could emit fire. "Ok, Chris, scratch that. Follow me." Jack smiled sinisterly. He hopped out of the back and walked up to the driver's side of the truck. The keys were still in the ignition slot. "Yes." Jack said with a grin, opening the door quickly and jumping in. "Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute." Chris stated, backing up. "You aren't gonna." Chris had a look of despair spread all over his face, and Jack seemed to be enjoying by just thinking about it. "You are right on the money." Jack said with an enthusiastic tone and broad smile. Jack looked for the keys of the truck, and found them in the dashboard. He took them out and placed them into the ignition. He turned them with force, and the truck sputtered and growled, and soon came to life. Chris stepped back and was about four or five meters when he gave the ok, and Jack let a rip with the accelerator, smashing it to the floor as hard as he could, then engine letting a roar as the truck lurched forward. He turned the wheel to the right, and sped strait for the wall of the building. He held steadfast to the wheel, and concentrated on the right moment to bail out of the truck. He was mere feet from the wall, when he jumped out of the truck as quickly as he could. He hit the pavement just as hard as the truck hit the hall. The inertia was the main cause of why hitting the ground hurt so badly. He was almost certain his arm was broken, but it was most likely just bruised badly. The truck went on its dead on course for the wall, and when it impacted it with such force, it exploded in a fireball, and the wall had a hole about the size of a manhole indented in its hard lair. The rest was cracked or was crumbing, and the reinforced concrete was baring its steel wires. Jack sat up with a daze, and rubbed his head while seeing two of everything. Chris ran up to him and crouched down, checking him over, making sure he wasn't hurt too seriously. "Jack, I swear, that was a crazy-ass stunt." Chris said, hauling him up off of the concrete ground, and back onto his feet. "Hey, what's the damage?" Jack asked dizzily. "Bad enough." Chris commented while looking at the hole, and laughing to himself at the sight of a totaled vehicle and a large, cracked circle showing itself on the wall of the building. "Come on." Chris commanded, and they set out through the hole and inside the familiar surroundings of the mysterious complex.